shəˈrād, US sometimes & Brit usually -äd or -ȧd noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, from Provençal charrado chat, from charra to chatter, of imitative origin
1.
a. : a word represented in riddling verse or by picture, tableau, or dramatic action (as intrusion represented by depiction of inn, true, and shun )
b. charades , plural but singular or plural in construction : a game in which a group is divided into two sides each alternately devising charades to be guessed by the other
2. : something resembling or felt to resemble a charade: as
a. : an almost transparent pretense
b. : a symbolic action
sleepwalkers acting out some fantastic Freudian charade of their own illusions — J.R.Ullman